Sharing Secrets
by Ashton09
Summary: Cat's always known she's special. Over the years, she learns just how special she is.
1. Chapter 1

She's five when she first notices she's different.

Not in the way her mother has always told her, not that she's somehow better than everyone else just because of who she is. Not because her father is a businessman who regularly dines with Senators and has even met the President for golf. Not because her mother is a novelist who has made an art out of pretentious networking that means she gets dragged along to countless boring dinner parties.

No, Cat is different because she has _magic_.

She doesn't technically notice herself, is too young to put the clues together and realize that no one else can do what she can. It's just a game to her, part of who she is, and so she never thinks too much about it. Her great grandfather points it out to her, carefully explaining what it means so a small child can understand.

"My great grandmother could do something almost the same," he explains softly, coaching her through half remembered tests he'd failed many years before, tests Cat excels at. "She was the last woman born in our family line, the last one to have magic. None of us boys did, though I could tell she hoped we would. She would have loved to teach you."

"What would she teach me?" Cat asks seriously as she sets the lights to flickering, feeling the pulse of their energy in her veins. "Could she make the lights flash too?"

"Not exactly," Grandpa chuckles, lost in memories of a different time. "She had power over fire, not electricity. She could make the candles sway to music, could always make the winter fires warm enough to keep the whole house comfortable. I don't remember much beyond that; I was so young when she died."

"Could someone else teach me?" Cat wonders, in love with the small games her grandfather has taught her to focus the ability. "I want to know everything."

"You have to be careful," comes the already familiar refrain, his voice serious to make sure she understands. "You're special, Catherine, and not many will understand that. You might find a teacher, but you could also find someone who could hurt you. You have to keep this a secret, you can't tell anyone but me."

Cat pouts at that, she hates keeping secrets. She wants to tell the world everything, wants to know everything there is to know. Secrets keep her from both of those things. "But Grandpa, how will I learn?"

"I have my grandmother's books; she gave them to me before she passed. They would have gone to you anyway. They're a little advanced for you now, but when you're older they can help."

"But I want to know now!" Cat says, starting to throw a fit. She's used to not getting her way, but she's never wanted something this much.

Her tantrum has no effect on her grandfather, and gradually she quiets, noticing the lights return to normal as she does. "It's to protect you, Catherine. You have to be safe. Promise me you'll keep this a secret, that you'll only practice what I've shown you when you're alone?"

Cat agrees with a shrug, she's usually alone anyway. "But when can I learn?" she asks after promising, still focused on that goal.

"The books will be delivered on your fourteenth birthday," comes the resigned reply, and Cat grins. It's a long time to wait, but she can do it. She'll turn fourteen, and then she'll learn everything she can about her powers.

X

As promised, a bundle of books arrives the morning of her fourteenth birthday, and Cat smiles wistfully as she thinks back to the times she'd spent with her great grandfather, the hours of practice and games that had gradually given her a solid level of control over her abilities. She misses him every day, misses the one person she'd been able to be herself around. It wasn't just about her powers, but also the fact that no matter what she did, he wouldn't judge her. She could trust him in a way she trusted no one else in her life, and when he'd passed she'd lost that. Now the masks were permanent, her emotions locked carefully away to avoid criticism from her mother.

Now all she has of him are her memories and these books, and a carefully kept promise to be careful. And for him, for his memory, she always will be.

That caution, and a level of patience it had taken years to develop, has Cat hiding the books until she can look at them later, not willing to risk anyone walking in on her and wondering what could be so engrossing that she's reading rather than getting ready for the party her mother insists on throwing her. These books, this knowledge, it's all just for her, and she won't share them with anyone else.

Between the private lunch, afternoon outing, and dinner party her mother had planned, it's late before Cat gets a chance to pull the ancient tomes out again, and only exhaustion keeps her from cursing her mother's need to be seen as the perfect family. None of the day had been about Cat and what she wanted; it had all been about her mother's image. And even after years of living with the woman, it's tiring to be faced yet again with the knowledge that nothing matters beyond appearances. There's no depth to life when her mother is in charge, and every birthday brings a renewed countdown to the day Cat is free to build her own future, her own image.

For now though, all her attention is on her grandmother's knowledge, hoping it can help guide her beyond the basics she's mastered so far. There has to be more to learn than how to turn lights on and off without touching a switch, or how to make phones ring in another room to pull her mother's attention away from whatever latest fault she's found. Cat knows 100 different ways to use her abilities, but there has to be more to them than that. She can _feel_ the possibilities humming in her blood every time she calls on her power, but she can't find the needed bridge to a world she can't imagine.

And oh, the books are a treasure trove of knowledge, the kind Cat has only dreamed of. She'd always wanted a teacher, wanted to learn everything she could about her powers and how to use them, but this might just be enough to give her what she's wanted. She might not learn as easily from a book as she would from a teacher, she'll have to be far more careful to avoid mistakes she doesn't know how to undo, but she'll have her privacy. She'll still have the one thing that's completely hers, no matter what the world wants from her.

With the ever present mantra of 'caution' playing through her mind, Cat reads every line of the books three times before attempting anything she finds, taking copious notes of her own to ensure she completely understands the slightly archaic language. Thankfully her grandmother had obviously known her journals would be used to teach, and had used very clear, very unambiguous language to describe each step of every spell and incantation. The warnings and notes on consequences are just as clear, and between those and her grandfather's words on responsibility Cat is careful not to overstep her abilities, or the boundaries of what is right.

She'd been tempted, when she found the section on hexes and curses, to return some of the pain her mother had so consistently bestowed upon her, but the forward to the section as well as the notes in the margins stay her hand. The temptation is almost too much for Cat, not to hurt her mother, but to seriously inconvenience her in several unpleasant ways, but it's not worth risking the consequences of such actions. _'I include these passages in hopes that my descendants will be fully prepared for an unkind world, but do not be swayed by the temptations herein, save for great and just need, the usage of such power will have far more effect on the caster than the one you wish to harm'_ goes the warning, and Cat reluctantly sets aside her half formed daydreams in favor of the moral high road.

Even with her caution she learns quickly, finding greater controls over both the innate ability her grandfather had noticed in her years ago, and in the deeper fire within her veins, that connection to the magic and energy of the world around her. Spells and incantation seem silly at first, but before long they're second nature, even the ones she develops on her own. She spends her study time coming up with new spells to try, new goals to attempt. Her grandmother's books had contained an extensive number of rituals, but few seemed fully applicable to the world Cat lives in now. Spells to ensure the continued health of a family horse might be fascinating to study, wonderfully complex in the level of detail needed for a positive outcome, but they aren't anything Cat has use for.

So instead she creates her own, building them step by step using her grandmother's notes, experimenting carefully with new combinations of energies and herbs to find new outcomes. She takes a cooking class outside of school and ignores the way her mother beams approval at the idea she'll know how to cook for a husband, not fighting the assumption even though it makes her shudder. She just wants better knowledge of herbs and the way they combine, letting their culinary secrets build on and enhance her magical knowledge.

Thanks to her mother's careless inattention, Cat has what amounts to an entire wing of their manor to herself, and from the time she's confident enough in her powers to actually practice, she turns the smallest room into an altar room, one that the maids know never to enter. She even bribes the handyman to change the lock, hiding the key where no one will find it, a careful concealment spell keeping it that much safer.

It's in that room that she explores her abilities, that she finds her strengths and begins to understand what her skills mean for her. She has a way with technology that amazes her, going so far beyond just making lights flicker that her early attempts at using her powers seem like cheap tricks. No machine she uses ever malfunctions, and the better she understands their inner workings, the better they react.

It's what allows her typewriter to never jam, despite being an ancient model that's all the school will pay for. It's what allows her typing speed to surpass the rest of her class, her fingers not needing to hit the keys for the typewriter to move. As long as she chooses the one in the back corner of the room, safely out of sight, she can think the words and pretend to move her fingers, and her connection does the rest. It's peaceful, and enough to convince Cat journalism is definitely the profession for her. Her mother might not agree, but once Cat is on her own, she won't need her mother's help anymore.

That day can't come soon enough.

X

Eventually she makes it, much to her mother's disdain. She's only an assistant for now, but she knows she'll work her way up eventually. Her typing speed alone means she's wasted on an assistant position in a world driven by deadlines, but Cat knows her skills go beyond that. She has an eye for detail, a way with words, and a dedication to telling the world the truth that will make her a great reporter, just as soon as she gets her chance.

In the meantime Cat spends her evenings practicing, learning, and finding new ways for magic to help her. She develops a potion that vastly increases the positive effects of caffeine while counteracting most of the negatives, and immediately begins drinking it whenever possible. The only downside is the temperature needed to bring out the effects, because finding a coffee so hot it could scald you that still tastes decent is nearly impossible. Still, a few substandard morning drinks are worth the boost she gets and Cat quickly makes enough to last a month, carefully labelling the jars she'd bought at a local craft shop, loving the way they look on her shelves. None match, but it's a welcome relief after the careful order of her mother's home. It might drive her insane someday, but for now the careful chaos works.

As she settles into her job and her abilities, Cat eventually starts to carefully seek out others like her, hoping for someone to share the wonder of these abilities with. Someone who understands the heat in her veins, the wonder in her mind every time she reaches out and feels the technology around her, or the satisfaction of a spell well cast. She's still wary about sharing too much, remembering her grandfather's warnings, but she doesn't want to be the only one anymore.

Of course, it's far easier to find charlatans and tricksters than it is to find someone with talent, and Cat quickly abandons that avenue of exploration. She'd found some good knowledge, a few interesting people, but for the most part their talents are weak. They're kind and caring, open about what they do and don't know, but Cat hadn't been looking for a friend. She'd wanted someone who would understand. She doesn't need or want friends at this point; she wants to succeed where her mother had insisted she would fail.

So Cat throws everything she has into succeeding, until she's no longer an assistant, no longer a junior reporter, no longer a junior editor. She pours her life into her work until she's building a company of her own, buying a paper and beginning her slow climb to media success. The TV station she'd starred on came next, and at that point Cat was successful enough to step back from her personal show and writing efforts, putting her focus into running her growing company. Her talents make sure they never have production errors, her weekly tours of every location within an hour of her office keeping her aware of how each machine functions, enabling her to catch problems before they can occur. For the locations she eventually purchases farther away, a quick spell at her first tour lets her know immediately when there's a problem, giving her the capability to react instantly to prevent a small problem from growing.

As her company expands, so does her magical knowledge. Her access to more information means she finds more to learn, more that she can use. Her constant use of her powers means her skills are kept sharp, her abilities growing with the practice. And as they do, the tools she uses gradually change as well, potions kept in crystal vials, notes meticulously organized in specifically purchased books, each page carefully thought out and rewritten on scrap paper until she's completely certain of what she wants to say before she writes it in her own spell book the way her grandmother had written hers so many years before. Her craft is no longer spontaneous and fun; it's another part of what makes her a successful CEO and media mogul.

X

She'll never regret having Carter, but when he's born and her limited time never seems to stretch quite far enough, she can't help wondering whether she should have come up with a birth control spell at some point years ago. He's the best thing that's ever happened to her, and she will never consider him or his conception a mistake, but the timing is unforgiving and there's too much pulling her in every direction.

It's what leads her to give in and hire an assistant of her own, something she'd sworn she wouldn't do after how she'd been treated years ago. She knows she'll have to be tough, will likely be harsher than she needs to be, and she'd tried to avoid that for as long as she could. She can't be soft anymore, not after all she's built. And she can't really be sorry about that either.

That starts the rotating door of assistants over the next few years, some lasting longer than others, but none standing out or rising about minimally competent. But no matter how average and disappointing they all are, they do manage to take some burden off her shoulders, allowing her precious time with her son as he grows older. And as long as she has that, the whispered comments and fearful glances can't touch her. She can handle being thought of as cold or a bitch; she can't handle missing her son's life.

By the time Carter is ten Cat has gone through close to fifty assistants, none lasting more than six months, and most lasting barely three. She makes sure the ones who last longer than average find a job somewhere else, though never openly. A quick spell to bring clear paths does the job for her, and they do the rest. She won't interfere directly, but she will make sure they're rewarded for what they've done for her.

Kara is different; Cat can tell that from the beginning. Her claims to be 100% normal are as false as a Katharine Grant apology, and that's enough to intrigue Cat. Because beneath the cheap cardigan and childish dress, Kara Danvers is anything but normal.

There's a power in her that surpasses anything Cat has seen in another person before, a brightness so blinding that Cat has to blink a few times to clear her vision, not used to actually seeing someone's power with physical eyes. In the past when she's met others with similar powers she's been able to sense their ability, however faint, but this is something different. Kara radiates power without trying, and that leaves Cat nearly breathless, falling back on her habitual disdain to maintain a semblance of control.

After Kara leaves, job offer in hand, Cat leans back to take a much needed series of deep breaths, thinking back over the interview now that she has space to consider what she'd seen. Kara's power was strangely contained, almost as if it was locked away somehow, and Cat doesn't know what that means. She's heard of someone with natural ability being unable to access their gift for whatever reason, but she's never met someone like that before, and doesn't know whether it would look like what she'd seen or not. She assumes it would, can't think of another explanation, but not knowing for sure doesn't sit well with her.

She'll keep an eye on Kara either way, wants to know what the younger woman is capable of. She doesn't know how to go about unlocking power that can't be accessed, hasn't had reason to learn over the course of her solitary practice, but should Kara somehow start to use her abilities Cat wants to be prepared. She's gone years without someone to talk to, and the thought of having someone to mentor is strangely enticing. If Kara is as untrained as her strangely muted abilities seem to imply, then Cat has years of experience to share with her.

Kara continues to surprise her as the days turn into weeks and then months, gracefully handling every demand on Cat's time with an ease that seems almost inhuman. If not for the way her power stays firmly muted, Cat would assume she was casting spells left and right to get through the workload. And as she continues to thrive, Cat starts to push.

But every new challenge is met and surpassed, Kara rising above what Cat could ever have expected of her. Not that Cat ever tells her that of course, she just nods and adds another item to Kara's to do list each time. If there was any sign of awakened power, Cat would reach out, but when the dynamic between them is still limited to boss/assistant it isn't time yet. There's still more for Kara to learn before Cat can step forward. She firmly believes that Kara could do great things, perhaps even one day be her protégée, but the younger woman isn't ready for that yet. There's still more for her to learn before she's ready for Cat to take an active role in teaching her rather than letting her learn from her experiences.

X

The arrival of Supergirl nearly derails Cat's carefully considered plans. Her presence is so overwhelming, her power so undeniable, that it pulls Cat's focus from almost everything but her son, leading to missteps at CatCo and in her mentoring of Kara. Thankfully the damage to their previously solid working relationship doesn't seem to affect the young woman's ability to do her job, a fact that keeps Cat's other lapses from affecting the success of her company.

In fact, Kara's consistent ability to help, to solve whatever problems arise, is what finally allows Cat to get a grip on her wildly racing thoughts. And when she does, she finally notices what should have been obvious from the beginning.

Her coffees, somehow now hot enough to meet the needs of her old creativity blend, have the taste of magic to them. And yet Kara has shown no change in her dampened abilities, no matter how closely Cat tries to scrutinize them. It's a simple spell, one that someone with Kara's power would be able to master without difficulty, but there's no sign of magic usage to the girl. Her powers are as locked away as they have always been, and Cat doesn't know how to make sense of the conundrum. She doesn't like to think she's been wrong, can't think of another explanation for the muted feeling she has when she looks at Kara, but the more she's handed a hot coffee, the more she wonders if she'd misread the situation.

It's not until Supergirl lands on her balcony one night, rather than keeping her distance hovering in the sky, that Cat gets the final clue she needs to understand what's going on. Because the power that clings to Supergirl, the power she's never been close enough to feel, is the same power she's been sensing in her coffee for months now. And either Kara somehow isn't aware of Cat's own abilities, doesn't know that she can trace power back to its caster, or she's ready for Cat to know who she is.

Deciding that nothing good comes without a little risk, Cat gambles on the third. "What brings you to CatCo so late, Kara? It's well after normal working hours, and you're hardly dressed for filing." The shock on the younger woman's face proves her guess had been wrong, but when Kara doesn't immediately fly off, Cat wonders if maybe it'll pay off anyway.

"What do you mean, Miss Grant?" Kara says in a confident voice, but the slight shift of her shoulders gives her away. She's not as comfortable as she seems, whatever level of security the cape is giving her right now. "Why would you call me Kara?"

"Oh come now, do you really think that once you finally landed I wouldn't be able to sense your power? I may not match you for raw power, but really Kara. I _can_ manage to track a spell's energy residue." From the way Kara's mouth drops open in shock at that, Cat guesses she hadn't realized that was a possibility. That, or she'd somehow missed Cat's power, which seems vaguely insulting somehow. Cat might not be able to light up a room with energy just by walking in, but she is immensely powerful in her own right.

"Spell? Power? I don't understand," Kara says in confusion, and Cat knows it's real. Somehow, despite what is obviously immense control over her own abilities, the girl is fundamentally untrained, at least in how magic works for humans.

"Yes, Kara, do keep up. Every time you heat my latte, a thread of your power clings to it, more than enough for me to sense. And now here you are in front of me, not holding your powers back for once, and it's easy enough to make the connection." Despite the snap in her words, Cat works hard to keep that edge out of her voice, purposefully keeping her tone gentle and encouraging.

"None of that makes sense," Kara whispers, looking at her without a trace of understanding in her eyes. "I have powers because I'm Kryptonian, but you're human. Humans don't have powers."

"Some of us do," Cat says carefully, not wanting to startle a superhero that regularly fights beings with powers most humans consider supernatural. "Not all of us, and most not that strongly, but there are those of us who can light a candle or two."

"But magic isn't real on Earth," Kara breathes, face blank. "My family told me that, they said it was a Kryptonian thing."

"Most who can actually use it tend to keep it a secret," Cat explains, watching Kara carefully. "It's not well understood, at least the truth of it, and in the past those who didn't understand tended to lash out." Cat wants to try something small, something to prover to Kara she's not lying, but she's afraid that anything she does will startle the girl in front of her. "I need to grab something from my office, don't fly off," she commands as an idea comes to her, before walking quickly inside to open a hidden safe not even Kara knows the combination to.

"What's this?" the younger woman asks curiously when Cat returns with a leather bound book held carefully and almost reverently in hand. It's a departure from the earlier blankness and confusion, and Cat smiles to herself to see it.

"This, Kara, is my spell book. Others have various names for their, but as much as I love words and their descriptive abilities, I never saw a reason to call mine anything but what it is." Cat's a little nervous about letting Kara see this, about letting _anyone_ see it, but the amount of care and emotion she's poured into it will be obvious to someone who knows her as well as Kara does, and that should be enough to convince her without some flashy display that will only spook her.

"I haven't seen anything like this since my mother's _raogrhys fehl_ ," Kara says softly after she's studied a few pages, sadness mingling with wonder in her voice. "I used to watch her write in hers every night before bed. My father's was disorganized, and he rarely updated it, but my mother was so careful. Father used to tease her about it, saying the book didn't matter if you held the strength in your heart."

"And what did your mother say?" Cat asks softly, unable to resist breaking the silence. She's learning more about Kara than she'd thought she ever would, and surprisingly it just makes her want to know more.

"That strength of heart didn't excuse sloppiness, and that the beauty of the written word could push that strength so much higher," Kara replies just as softly, eyes staring out over the city as she's lost in thought. "You would have liked her, I think."

"I'm sure I would have," Cat agrees, because anyone who feels so strongly about writing is usually someone she can at least tolerate. And to have raised a wonderful young woman like Kara, for however long she'd done so, she must have been an amazing woman.

"I'd just begun my training when I was sent away," Kara continues, barely seeming to notice Cat's presence beside her. "We start at thirteen, and I was just a few months older than that when Krypton fell. And then I came here, and there was no one to learn from. My cousin had learned enough to control his powers, but he didn't understand the legacy he'd inherited. He couldn't teach me. I taught myself everything he's learned, but there's been no one to share the journey with. No one who understands."

"It does get lonely," Cat sympathizes, abandoning a little of her habitual distance as something in Kara's story resonates with her. She hasn't lost everything in her life, but she knows the loneliness of finding your own path that no one can share. "But as I said, there are those of us who have some ability."

"How long have you used magic?" Kara asks, finally turning from the view of the city to take in Cat standing next to her, before dropping back to the book she holds in her hands. "There's so much knowledge here, more than I'd dreamed could still exist in the universe."

Cat debates her words for a long moment, weighing her options and paths forward before throwing caution to the wind and going with her gut. "I started at fourteen, learning from spell books my grandmother left behind. And then I taught myself, studying everything I could to make the most of my abilities. There wasn't anyone I trusted to teach me, and then there wasn't anyone I cared to share my knowledge with. It became my refuge, something I had that no one else did. No one else ever seemed worthy."

There's a note in Cat's voice that Kara seems to easily pick up on, and the older woman isn't surprised. Kara has been learning to read her every whim for years, has excelled at it for most of that time. And at least in this, Cat isn't trying particularly hard to hide what she means.

Because no one has ever captured Cat's attention the way Kara has, no one has ever had the potential Cat can see in the younger woman. And when faced with that, the possibilities are too much to deny. Cat has wanted someone to mentor, to share what she's learned, and with Kara she thinks it could be almost mutual. The girl is fundamentally untrained, but she comes from a tradition completely unlike anything Cat has seen before. The few things she does remember could be the beginning of a wholly new exploration on Earth, and Cat has never been one to back down from a challenge.

"You shared this with me," Kara points out, lifting Cat's spell book slightly in her hands, staring into Cat's eyes with a direct look that's a few steps short of outright challenging. "I can feel how much effort and care went into this, and yet you showed it to me within moments of realizing who I was."

"I trust you," Cat says, dipping her head slightly in acknowledgement of the point. "I've sensed your potential since your interview; I've been watching you since then. You're an extraordinary woman, Kara, and I'd trust you with far more than what I've written in that book."

It's a gamble, she knows that. Cat's only known about Kara's abilities and powers for a few minutes now, but she does trust her. She trusts the woman who's been her assistant for years, who has poured so much into her work, has kept CatCo running smoother than Cat has ever quite managed. Kara may have been hiding for years, but that doesn't mean Cat hasn't seen the woman behind the cardigan during that time.

"I'd love to see anything you want to show me," Kara says evenly, understanding the barely hidden message in Cat's words with a confidence that Cat hadn't expected. It could be the cape, it could be a young woman suddenly seeing an opportunity she'd thought long gone, but whatever the reason, Cat has to admit it's almost distractingly attractive.

Ignoring that is probably a lesson she'll need to work on while teaching Kara.

X

"Oh, wow," Kara says in hushed awe when Cat invites her into the room that's become her sanctuary over the last few years. "It's all so beautiful."

The wonder in her voice makes Cat take a second look around; trying to see the room through new eyes, the way Kara sees it. Each item is meticulously chosen, every tool precisely in place. The vials of potions and potion ingredients are lined up along the shelves, labels meticulously printed and facing outward, alphabetized by their primary use. Every book on the shelf is arranged by author and subject, a collection of knowledge that Cat knows is practically unsurpassed. She's put enough time into finding each one to appreciate just how much she's accumulated over the years.

"I like the best, you know this Kara," is all she says despite the warmth the compliment brings, because step one of ignoring how much a confident and curious Kara affects her is to keep the girl at arm's length. "Why should my craft be any different?"

"I wasn't trying to say it should," Kara rushes to explain, and Cat has to forcibly hold back a smirk at how easy it still is to rile her assistant. Kara might have ten times the power she possesses, but she's still adorably prone to being flustered by a single comment. "It's all so lovely, so very _you_ , but I'd be afraid to touch any of it."

"Do you have tools of your own?" Cat asks, trying to get her mind back on the conversation and off of how enjoyable it is to watch a flustered Kara. Step one is a lot harder to manage when Kara looks so much like a frightened puppy, but that doesn't mean she can give up that easily. "I admit, I'm as curious about how your magic works as you obviously are about mine."

"No, I don't tend to use anything, my control is pretty subconscious," Kara admits, walking slowly around the room as she takes everything in. "Flight, strength, pretty much everything but heat vision is instinctive, I reach for the power and it's there. No spells, no rituals, just action. Even heat vision is just a little rhyme in my head, mostly to keep it from talking all my strength. I set limits on it to keep it from overwhelming me."

"And here I thought it was impressive that I can control technology," Cat quips, Kara's no nonsense explanation of just how strong her innate ability is has her a little off balance. For Kara to accomplish all that she does, all of her heroic actions and world saving deeds, without the use of any but the most basic spells puts their differing levels of ability in stark contrast.

Cat, with preparation and careful focus, can change the course of the world around her in minor yet significant ways. She can open paths for her failed assistants to succeed, she can cast protective charms over journalists she's sending into dangerous areas to help them avoid the worst dangers, and she can on rare occasions can boost her mental and physical stamina to keep herself going far beyond when others would have reached the breaking point from the pressure. But anything beyond that takes too much out of her, and she's learned over the years to be very aware of where her boundaries are, lest she push too hard and end up out of commission for longer than she can afford.

But Kara's power is different, and Cat is beginning to realize just how different. Without a single spell, with only her own innate talents, Kara can fly higher than any airplane, hit harder than any battering ram, and move faster than the fastest bullet. She has so much potential, almost completely untapped, and yet she's already so far beyond anything Cat can accomplish.

And yet, Cat thinks that despite that difference, she can still teach Kara. Control, the finer workings of magic on this planet, those are things that don't require much in the way of power at all. Someone with a fraction of Cat's ability can learn those things, they have nothing to do with ability and everything to do with concentration and focus. Kara might be wildly powerful, but as has been proven many times in the past she could use all the focus she can get.

"I'm sure your abilities are more than impressive," Kara says, cutting across Cat's line of thought sharply. And from anyone else the words might sound patronizing, but from Kara they're obviously genuine, and they make Cat want to show off a little. She might not be anywhere close to Kara's league, but she's never met a human who can match her.

"Oh, I do fairly well," Cat says as she makes the various practice devices scattered around the room spin to life. She's kept them around to keep her skills honed, even though they seem almost childish to her now. Still, they're something visible that she can show Kara without the aid of a spell, relying solely on her own talents. And from what she's seen of Superman and Supergirl both, she thinks that this might just be something she can do that they can't.

"That is so cool!" Kara says with wide eyes and a small laugh, staring at the practice device, toy really, nearest her with unfeigned interest. "Miss Grant, I never knew you could do all this."

"As I said, we tend to keep abilities like this a secret," Cat says, trying for nonchalance she doesn't particularly feel. It's been years since she could be open about her powers, most of her life in fact. The joy of being open almost makes her want to act as wide eyed and excited as Kara, but she makes herself hold back. Image is still important after all. "I can do more with more complex technology, but I try to keep items like that out of my space here."

"This is amazing," Kara says, still seeming lost for words, and Cat smiles.

"Kara, I have a proposal for you," she says as the toys slowly wind down back to their resting positions, needing to remove their distraction from the room. "I've been a solitary witch for many, many years. I've amassed great amounts of knowledge, but never had anyone to share it with. If you'd like, I think that should change."

"You'd really teach me?" Kara says in a soft voice, looking down at her hands rather than making eye contact. Uncertainty is carved into every line of her face and posture, and Cat feels herself softening at the image.

"I would," Cat confirms, any thought of a sarcastic comment thrown out the window when she sees how much this means to Kara. "I've been working towards taking you as a protégée at CatCo for months now, this is no different. In anything you do, I truly believe you could change the world, and I'm not one to let an opportunity like that pass through my hands."

"Do I have to use the fancy tools?" Kara asks after a long moment of thought, surprising a slight laugh from Cat at the honest response. "I mean, I will if I have to, but I really don't want to break anything."

"I doubt you'd break anything," Cat tries to reassure her, but she understands the reticence. "But I suppose we can get you a set of your own supplies. I'll find a suitable property somewhere that won't attract attention to use as a practice space, and we can keep them there."

"You don't have to do all that, Miss Grant," Kara says immediately, protesting just as Cat had half expected she would. "I'd love to learn anything you'll teach me, but I don't want to be an imposition."

"Kara, do you know what happened the first time I tried a spell before I was ready for it?" Cat asks rather than directly addressing Kara's concern, knowing her assistant is familiar enough with her quirks to follow without being thrown. "I shorted out the electronics for an entire school within the space of a few seconds. It took them weeks to fully repair the systems. So if we're going to be building a control you don't yet possess, I want to be in a contained area far from my home to do so. One that will allow for every safety feature we deem reasonable."

"That makes sense," Kara says when Cat's words sink in, flush rising to her face as she realizes why Cat had suggested what she had. "Did you really fry your entire school?"

"I did. It took them a week just to restore power," Cat confirms, thinking back to that time with a smirk. "It was one of the most overly pretentious boarding schools in the country, and there we were using candles to light classrooms because the administration didn't dare admit there was a problem that could mean any kind of refund for the trouble." It had been the one bright spot of the year, and thankfully when the news had made it to her mother she'd been enrolled in a new school for the following year, one that wasn't quite as stifling.

"I'll try to avoid doing that then," Kara says with a laugh, and Cat just smiles in response. No matter what Kara does or doesn't do, she knows this is going to be an adventure.

X

The lessons progress quickly, the control Kara already has in containing her abilities subconsciously providing a solid basis for expanding to control to her conscious efforts as well. Before Cat can quite believe it she's using spells that took the older woman months to master, with a finesse that's equal to what she can manage now. It's another reminder that Kara isn't human, that her talents are far beyond what Cat can match.

"Everyone on Krypton could use magic," Kara confides in Cat one day when the older woman is visibly stunned by one of Kara's spells. "We grew up feeling it, even if it wasn't as strong on Krypton as it is for us here. It's like breathing to me, at least once I know what I'm doing."

"If I hadn't already realized you had ten times the ability I do, I might be very put out by this," Cat admits, knowing Kara will see the traces of envy she can't quite eliminate. Even knowing she's in a different weight class, as it were, doesn't entirely soothe her jealousy at how easily the various spells come to Kara. "I have to admit, I thought your control would be the thing we worked on most, but you have that all figured out."

"I um, I used the same spell I use to keep from overusing my heat vision," Kara admits sheepishly, and Cat rolls her eyes because of course the girl had. "It's also the one I use at work to keep from slipping up and using my abilities where someone would notice, I just don't cast it as strongly."

"So that's why I thought your powers seemed dampened somehow," Cat says in realization, glad to have solved that particular puzzle. She'd noticed Kara's abilities had remained dimmed at work, but had never quite figured out how to ask, and the time for bluntly charging forward had long passed between them.

"I can usually control my strength and such without a spell, but I never want to take the risk of hurting someone if I'm startled out of control," Kara explains, and Cat nods in acknowledgement of that possibility. "Using a spell at work takes that possibility off the table, means I can never slip up and use anything beyond the limits I set when I cast it."

"And what if there's an emergency?" Cat asks, not sure she likes the sound of a spell binding Kara's powers, even though she can easily see why it might be necessary.

"If by some chance there's an attack on CatCo, all it takes is a few words to end the spell, don't worry," Kara reassures her, and Cat concedes the point. It's Kara's strength in question here, not hers, and as much as Cat prefers to be in control of every situation, this one is Kara's to handle. "If you want, with your help I think I can rewrite the spell, so that if there's ever a situation I can't speak, you can drop it for me. If you think that's a good idea?" Kara's tone is hesitant, and Cat takes a moment to study her, because the offer is one of complete trust. To allow another witch access to your spell also gives them a measure of control over it, and if Cat were to act quickly enough, she could conceivably render Kara completely powerless before the woman could react.

"Are you sure you trust me that much?" Cat asks, knowing Kara understands what she's offering. Their first lessons had been on the basics of how magic works on Earth, from energy residue to sharing power. But while Kara might understand the implications, Cat wants to be sure she's actually okay with them.

"Of course I do," Kara says, hesitance fading at Cat's response. "You've earned that trust and more, and if something goes wrong, I trust you to help me." There's certainty in her voice now, enough to calm the last of Cat's doubts, so she nods in response.

Rewriting the spell is another lesson for them both, Cat finally getting a glimpse into Kryptonian magic while Kara learns the basics of spell writing. Cat is amazed at how different the spell is to anything she knows, and wants to learn more, perhaps uncover a new path through Earth's energies, new ways to use magic to accomplish her goals. She doubts anyone but a Kryptonian could truly master it, but that doesn't mean she can't try, can't help Kara reach that potential.

"Well, now that any concern for using that spell at work is solved, I do want you to try some of these exercises without it," Cat says once they finish, giving Kara a pointed look when she starts to protest. "Kara, you cannot always rely on a spell for control, you have to find it yourself. You've managed well enough so far, but you need to know your limits without it." Cat doesn't want to push the younger woman too much, but if she's the teacher in this situation, the mentor, she needs to push now. She can't let Kara cling to a spell as a crutch.

At Kara's sheepish nod they begin again, and Cat begins to see progress that puts Kara's earlier achievements to shame. If she continues like this, it won't be long before Cat has nothing more to teach her. It's a strangely frightening thought. She's been keeping her growing feelings for Kara at bay by focusing on the fact that she's in a teaching position, however informally, and the thought that Kara could surpass that dynamic between them will mean the end of her strongest layer of reasoning.

X

Cat barely manages to control her phone long enough to get a message to Kara, hopes that her assistant will care enough to come help her despite the fact it's a holiday. And she does feel a flash of guilt at pulling the younger woman away from whatever her plans had been, but from the energy around her Cat knows she won't be able to deal with the situation alone.

All of her screens are dark, her phone is dead, and her laptop doesn't even have a flicker of power left in it. No matter how many times Cat reaches out to find the problem, her power is blocked, and she can't find a way past whatever is holding her electronics hostage. It's frustrating, and entirely unprecedented, and not even the glasses of wine she's already have are enough to keep her frustrations at bay. She's never had technological problems, not once in her life has a device not worked the way she wanted it to. Whatever, or whoever, is keeping them from responding this time will pay.

As soon as her superhero arrives, anyway.

Kara doesn't seem to have picked up on the severity of the situation, not that Cat blames her when the text had been so short, arriving quickly but in her Kara Danvers clothing, clearly expecting a minor mishap rather than something strong enough to overcome Cat's considerable talents. And really, if everyone these days ends up with superpowers, then what's the point of her having regular powers in the first place? It makes Cat feel almost irrelevant, which is not a state she particularly enjoys, one that chafes more than she thinks reasonable.

"I'm not really sure I can help with this, Miss Grant," Kara says as she carefully hits a few keys on the laptop, earning an eye roll from Cat at her obliviousness. For all the abilities Kara wields as easily as breathing, she still needs to learn to think.

"Kara, do you think I would have used my one text to call you if this was a simple IT problem? What was the very first lesson I taught you?" Even knowing there's likely to be some sort of showdown soon, Cat can't fully step back from her role as teacher.

"That spells leave residue you can track to the caster," Kara says with an embarrassed look before closing her eyes to concentrate, and Cat can feel the energy stretching out to examine the blocks. She half hopes Kara will be able to accomplish what she couldn't, but technology has never been one of Kara's talents, not beyond using it the same way everyone else does. She has the power, but not the ability to use it the way Cat does.

If it didn't mean they weren't getting anywhere, Cat would probably smirk at that realization. She'll take what she can get, after all.

"Whoever it is, I want this solved, Kara. It's the day before Black Friday, and I do not accept the possibility that CatCo will not have a leading presence. Our doors will be open." Venting is the only outlet Cat has at the moment, and it's a soothing familiarity to them both as Kara continues to work, trying angle after angle to see if something in her powers will work.

Nothing has by the time Leslie appears on the screens, and if Cat weren't busy hiding her fright over the murderous gleam in her eyes, she would probably be very upset that a former employee would jeopardize her company in this way. Her life she can nearly understand, she hasn't always been the most understanding boss, but her company is her child almost as much as Carter. She doesn't want to leave either of them without her, especially her son, but she'd rather an attack be directed at her than at them.

Unfortunately the barbs she throws at Leslie do nothing but aggravate the situation, and without a second thought Cat pushes Kara ahead of her as they run, needing at least a moment to regroup before taking on the threat. Cat knows she's no match for Leslie's raw power, and Kara doesn't have the knowledge to fight her properly, but that doesn't mean they can't at least try.

"I know she messed with your electronics and your company, but can you _please_ not make her try any harder to kill us?" Kara hisses under her breath as they hide, and Cat can't help the roll of her eyes.

"Between the two of us she doesn't stand a chance if we can figure out how to use your strength and my brains, so a few barbs can hardly hurt the situation," Cat says dismissively, carefully stretching her energy through the electronics around them as she tries to figure out where Leslie is. "And besides, she was more than motivated enough to kill us both before I taunted her."

"That's not exactly comforting," Kara says, fiddling with her buttons as if she's about to change into her suit then and there, and Cat quickly stops her.

"She doesn't know who you are, and if by some chance she gets away tonight we don't want her to know. You have to leave like you're getting security, then come back as Supergirl. I'll draw her out, I can hold a shield over myself for a few seconds to give you time to appear." Cat doesn't know how long she'll actually be able to hold against Leslie's strength, but she has to trust Kara, has to protect her secret. She can't be the reason Kara loses her secret identity, her one piece of normalcy in the world of magic and superheroes she lives in now.

"You'd better be safe," Kara says once she nods, and Cat smiles, knows she can't promise that.

"Like she can take me," she says instead, and before her brain can catch up she's leaning forward to press her lips to Kara's, because there's a very good chance she could end up dead very soon, and she can't let that happen without knowing what it's like to feel Kara's lips against her own.

She wasn't expecting Kara to kiss back, but there's no hesitation from the younger woman before she does, and Cat desperately wants to give in to the lure of that softness. It's not the time though, so with a sigh of regret she pulls back when her powers pinpoint where Leslie is stalking them, knowing they have to move now.

"After that, you'd really better not die," Kara whispers before she heads off, and with a deep breath Cat stands, skirting the edge of the office heading away from where Kara has disappeared.

Cat draws Leslie's attention with another taunt to keep her from noticing Kara's disappearance, hopes that she thinks the younger woman is still hiding somewhere safe. Having Cat in her crosshairs should be enough to keep the focus off of a mere assistant, and if Cat can keep her in a murderous rage, she shouldn't have time to wonder why Cat would want to protect someone at the cost of her own life. Thankfully Cat manages to dodge the first attack without it hitting the protection spell she's cast, saving her from testing her strength against Leslie's blows for another few moments. Hopefully Kara reappears quickly, because she doesn't particularly want to test the shield against the power being thrown around.

She didn't expect Kara to physically intercept the blast of electricity being thrown her way, and if the situation weren't so dire she'd be scolding the younger woman for not thinking, but she does admit it seems to work, and surprises Leslie long enough for them both to catch their breath, Cat's mind racing to find a solution.

"Do you trust me?" she asks Kara as an idea comes to her, one that might not work, but the only thing she can think of at the moment.

"You know I do," Kara says with a wince as she absorbs another blast, and that's all Cat needs, quickly muttering the words that give her control over Kara's spell, the one the girl had left in place for some ridiculous reason. They'll have to talk about that later, when they're safe.

For now though, it's what's going to save them. Because Cat doesn't drop the spell, she uses it to shift the controls to areas of power she's well familiar with, using Kara's strength instead of her own, and finally making some headway against Leslie's grip on her electronics. Which will be helpful later when she tries to restart an entire company's worth of computers, but it's not the goal at the moment.

With another burst of energy from Kara once the superhero realizes what she's doing, Cat manages to track the energy residue back to the core of Leslie's strength, and with her own innate ability over everything electronic combined with Kara's raw strength, casts a containment spell that has Leslie's next attack sputtering into nothingness, held in check by nearly unbreakable bonds of Kryptonian strength. And once she's separated from the flow of her electricity that's been giving her strength, Cat casts a sleep spell, feeling exhaustion pulling at her despite having used Kara's strength to augment her own. It's still more of an effort than is probably smart, but not one she can regret.

"That was awesome," Kara says as Leslie slumps to the ground. "I didn't know that was possible."

"I didn't either," Cat admits with a shrug, not bothering to hide from Kara. "It was the only possibility I saw, but I had no idea whether it would actually work."

"I'm glad it did," Kara says with a smile, walking over to take in Leslie's sleeping form with a frown. "How long do you think the spell will last?"

"Hopefully long enough for whatever agency you work with to get her into something more permanent and less magical in nature," Cat says, turning her attention to the electronics around her to avoid Kara's gaze. Now that they're not in danger of dying any moment, the memory of the kiss resurfaces, as well as her list of reasons why she shouldn't have given in to the moment of weakness.

"They'll be here any second," Kara promises, crossing to Cat's side. "Which means we don't have time to talk about things, but I'm not letting you off the hook that easily."

"You should. You should absolutely write it off as a foolish decision in the face of potential death," Cat whispers, stubbornly looking at the computer in front of her as it flickers to life, hoping Kara will let it go.

"I can't," Kara says just as quietly, reaching out with gentle hands to turn Cat towards her, a soft hand on her chin raising her head until they make eye contact. "Because if that's all it was, I wouldn't have been dreaming about doing something similar for the past few months."

The admission that her months of longing weren't as one sided as she'd thought sends Cat's head reeling, but before she can process that Kara is leaning closer, once more pressing their lips together in the softest kiss Cat has ever felt. There's more emotion than she'd thought possible pouring between them, and her last few reservations go flying out the window.

They're interrupted by federal agents clearing their throats pointedly, but Cat can't be embarrassed at this point. Later she'll likely be mortified that they'd been seen, but right now, with Kara at her side radiating strength and support, there's no room for that.

Because Cat has always been special. She's always had magic.

But now she has something even better.


	2. Chapter 2

"Cat, what are you doing?" Kara asks once they're back at Cat's apartment, neither willing to let the other go just yet. Leslie is safely in an insulated cell at the DEO. Kara had to take a short phone call from Director Henshaw soon after they'd gotten there, defending Cat's knowledge of her identity and right to her privacy, but now she wants to curl up with the woman for a while, maybe have that talk they really need to have before things go any further.

But Cat isn't in the living room or study, and Kara doesn't want to pry by using her super senses to track her down. There are only a handful of places left to look, really, so with a quiet sigh and a hope she's not overstepping, Kara starts down the hallway to check them.

She finds Cat in her altar room, which really she should have expected. Cat is nothing but thorough about documenting her various witchy endeavors, and tonight definitely counts. The sharing of magic between them had been far more intimate than the kisses they'd shared, and an entirely new facet of magic for them both.

"You aren't avoiding me, are you?" Kara has to ask as she takes in the sight of Cat seated at her antique desk, carefully writing down her thoughts on scratch paper, spell book lying open to a blank page next to her. "Because if you really want space, I won't push tonight." She'll push later, of course, but not tonight. Not if Cat is overwhelmed and needs room to regain her emotional footing.

"Of course not," Cat says with a disbelieving look, one that Kara matches with a raised brow of her own. She knows Cat better than anyone at this point just from being at her side for so long, and avoidance is definitely one of Cat's favorite coping methods. "I'm not avoiding you, I'm well aware that it wouldn't work, at least not for very long. You're far too stubborn for that."

"I'd give you space if you needed it," Kara protests, because she would. If it was too much for Cat to handle, she'd back off in an instant until it wasn't.

"I know you would, Kara, I do. But we both know avoiding it tonight would be less about needing space and more about running from what happened." To hear Cat acknowledge the kiss so clearly settles something in Kara's stomach, letting her breathe.

"Do you want to run?" she can't help asking, wanting to be sure Cat is okay with things. "I mean, I don't want you to, but I know it was sudden."

"It wasn't sudden," Cat says, turning from her notes to meet Kara's eyes. "I mean yes, the kiss itself was a bit sudden, but it's been building for months now. Running won't change that fact."

Kara notices that Cat hadn't really answered the conversation, but the answer she had given was enough. At least it implies that they have a chance, once they talk about things.

"So what are you working on?" she asks rather than pushing, crossing the room to Cat's side.

"I'm writing my notes on what happened tonight," Cat explains, turning back to the table and picking her pen back up. "I'll transfer it to my spell book later, but I want to get my impressions down before the memory fades too much."

"And you needed to use the good pen for that?" Kara teases, knowing what the answer will be. She's mostly convinced Cat that she doesn't need the high end tools and supplies she'd bought over the years, but the pen hadn't changed.

"Are you sure you want to tease me about this pen tonight of all nights?" Cat asks with a pointed look up at her. "If I were you, I'd want to avoid upsetting me before we talk."

"I just don't understand why it always has to be that pen," Kara says, because she's never really understood that. "Even for the practice sheets, you always use that same pen."

"This pen has been with me for years, I've used it since I first started practicing. It was a gift to myself after I cast my first successful spell, and I've used it to keep track of every bit of magic I've performed. At this point, this pen is as much a part of my magic as I am." Cat had stopped writing as she began to talk, staring down at the pen in her hands with what almost seemed like reverence, maybe a step or two below.

"I didn't know," Kara says softly, wanting to apologize but not knowing how. "I didn't realize it was so important to you."

"How could you have?" Cat says, looking up with a small but genuine smile. "There's plenty in my life that you don't know, no matter how much you learned as my assistant."

"Will I have a chance to learn?" Kara can't help asking, breathing a sigh of relief when Cat nods, just once. "Okay, good," she can't help adding, earning the expected eye roll and sigh of exasperation from Cat.

"If you're quite done distracting me, the sooner I finish this, the sooner I can get to other things," Cat says with a slightly suggestive smirk, and Kara blinks rapidly in response as her brain nearly short circuits. Not that she's complaining, but that's a bit of a turnaround from Cat's earlier hesitation, and she doesn't know what's causing it.

"Are you sure?" she asks, needing to know.

"Kara, do I ever do anything I'm not sure about?" Cat asks pointedly, earning a quick head shake from Kara. "We'll talk before anything and go from there, as long as you're comfortable."

"I am," Kara rushes out, smiling at Cat's reaction to her eagerness. "I just don't want to rush into anything, or rush you into it."

"Then we'll talk about that too," Cat says easily, reaching out with the hand holding the pen to grab one of Kara's hands. And the pen is warm in their grasp, full of Cat's power. She can feel it, pulsing between them as the contact lingers and grows.

"Remind me to never tease you about the pen again," Kara says once Cat turns back to writing, content to watch for now.

"I'm sure I'll come up with plenty ways to remind you," Cat teases, breaking the tension.

Things might be different, and they might still need to talk, but at least they seem to have a chance.


End file.
